Sun and sea aside, the islands are rebranding to become a top-class centre for conferences and conventions
awaii
depends on tourism for its livelihood and at a time when the industry
has hit the doldrums worldwide the authorities are determined to encourage
holidaymakers to return to these beautiful islands.
Millions of dollars are being poured into the acceleration of major
improvement projects and business delegates 
are
going on tours of Japan – from where many visitors originate –
and America’s West Coast.
The process of rebranding the islands has been under way for several
years and Hawaii
is being billed as a business and conference venue.
Tony Vericella, president of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau,
believes the island’s facilities for business meetings are in the
top rank. “Hawaii has many tremendous assets and it can diversify
in a lot of ways, but there hasn’t been any marketing purely from
a business standpoint,” he says.
“Our convention centre is world-class and we have been pushing
to rebrand Hawaii as the ultimate global gathering point. We can lead
the world in that area and we have many competencies that we can offer
the world.
“Tourism has an enormous effect on everything else and more people
are starting to realise this. When there is a bad year for visitors,
people see the knock-on effects.”
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Mr
Vericella says Hawaii’s
natural assets will always be the key draw for tourists, but he adds
that other, less known aspects of the islands should be highlighted.
“What really sets us apart from the rest of the world is our position
between East and West,” he says.
A former British protectorate, Hawaii is 2,390 miles from California
and 3,850 miles from Japan. The population is a kaleidoscope of nationalities,
with no single ethnic group in the majority.
“Hawaii is a melting pot, which is unique and beneficial as people
have learned how to live and work together. There are more interracial
marriages here than anywhere else in the world,” adds Mr Vericella.
Various
races include Caucasian, African American, American Indian, Eskimo,
Aleut, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Thai, Asian Indian, Vietnamese,
Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, and other Asian and Pacific islanders.
There are also Dutch, Irish, English, French, German, Italian, Puerto
Rican, Spanish and Portuguese. About a quarter of the state’s population
speak a language other than English at home.
Robert Fishman, chief executive of the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA),
says the country’s ties to Asia are crucial. When the Asian economic
crisis of the 1990s hit Hawaii’s tourism industry, the government
created an Economic Revitalisation Task Force. The HTA was set up later,
in 1998.
One of the few places where you can ski and swim on the same day
“We need to develop and diversify other aspects of the economy
and lower our dependence on tourism,” says Mr Fishman. “Hawaii
is an enlightened and thriving place in which to do business. It will
create a niche for itself and will become known as a meeting place and
a place of economic opportunity.”
In
recent years, the promotion of some of Hawaii’s most famous attractions,
such as Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, has been refocused. Honolulu mayor
Jeremy Harris says: “Tourist destinations go through a lifecycle
and when they reach mature status they either reinvent themselves and
revitalise or they die. So we decided to basically reinvent Waikiki.
“All the market research showed that our unique selling proposition
was not just the beach, surf and the weather, although those are great
attributes. Instead, it was our Hawaiian culture and sense of place.
People came here because of that and not just because Waikiki has a
beautiful beach.”
Sports and eco-tourism have also been given a boost. Hawaii is one of
the few places on earth where you can go mountain – or rather volcano
– climbing, skiing and swimming in warm, turquoise blue waters
all on the same day.
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